‘Hobbit’ opens to a $84 million box office record, ‘Skyfall’ drops to #4
Peter Jackson’s first film in the new “Hobbit” trilogy opened number one this weekend beating out several other successful films: “Lincoln,” the new James Bond film and the conclusion of the “Twilight” saga.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opened to $84.8 million, which broke the December debut record held by “I Am Legend” in 2007. The first three days of “Hobbit” what in a strong $20,958 per theater average in over 4,000 screens, including 326 IMAX theaters.
“Rise of the Guardians” led a list of holdover films, finishing second with $7.4 million, still only earning about half of the $145 budget.
Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and the 23rd James Bond film, “Skyfall,” finished third and fourth, with the “Life of Pi” rounding out the top five.
“Silver Linings Playbook” continues to impress in its limited release.
Playing for the third straight weekend in 371 theaters, “Playbook” once again had the smallest drop in the Top 10, falling only 4 percent to $2.1 million. The Weinstein Co.’s $21 million film has brought in $17.0 million so far, and the studio hasn’t revealed details of a wide release for the Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence film.
“The Guilt Trip” and “Monsters Inc. 3D” open in theaters Wednesday with “Jack Reacher” and “This is 40” opening on Friday.
